GAME PREVIEW: Machine at Lizards

Coming off of a tight overtime loss in Boston, the Ohio Machine look to turn the corner when it takes on the New York Lizards Saturday, June 28, in Hempstead, N.Y.

The Machine (3-5) face off with the Lizards (4-4) at 7 p.m. EST and the game will be broadcast live on the MLL Network’s YouTube channel.

After taking on every team in the league, including New York, once already, Machine Head Coach Bear Davis said his team is ready for the playoff push, and it all starts with the Lizards.

“We need to go to New York and get it done, that’s the bottom line,” Davis said. “We need to go in there and get it done, and we need to get hot, we need to make a run.”

Despite the Machine’s young roster, he said he has no doubt his players know they can take on and compete with any team in the league.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that these guys know that they can compete with anybody now. I mean we’ve played everybody and had tight games or won against everyone at some point.”

While the roster is certainly young, those players have done nothing to hold back the Machine in 2014. First-year player Peter Baum leads the club with 21 goals and is second with 25 points. Second-year players Marcus Holman and Logan Schuss have scored 17 and 18 goals, respectively. Rookie Tom Schreiber has tallied nine goals in just six games in the league. That young core is mixed in with proven veterans like midfielder Kyle Harrison and attackman Steele Stanwick.

Davis said the importance of Harrison’s leadership is unparalleled on or off the field.

“I mean, he’s everything,” Davis said. “Having Kyle on our team has been a godsend.”

When the two teams met in May, New York managed to leave Selby Stadium with an 11-9 win, but the Machine can still find some motivation from that game. Baum and Schreiber each tallied hat tricks in their home debuts that night and the offense as a whole has performed at a higher level since that game.

Ohio is coming off a loss to the Cannons last week while the Lizards held on to beat the Charlotte Hounds. The Machine is 0-5 all time against New York and 0-2 on the road.

The Machine will head home to Delaware, Ohio, after its game with the Lizards for a three-game home stand. It will start when Ohio takes on the Chesapeake Bayhawks on the Fourth of July at 4 p.m. After that, the Machine will play the Charlotte Hounds at 7 p.m. July 19 and the Denver Outlaws July 26 at 4:30 p.m. All three games will be broadcast on the CBS Sports Network.